80 things to do in Metro Vancouver on Saturday, April 8

Looking for something to do on Saturday? The Straight’s got you covered. Here are 80 events happening in or around Vancouver on Saturday, April 8.

 

CONCERTS

Canadian singer-songwriter Jenn Grant performs songs from her new album Paradise at the Biltmore Cabaret.

Canadian jazz-world guitarist and oud player Gord Grdina plays the Western Front, with saxophonist Oscar Noriega, drummer Satoshi Takeishi, and pianist Russ Lossing.

U.K. punk band Menace plays Pat's Pub & Brewhouse, with guests Streetlight Saints, Last Kaste, and Upper Ranks.

American Christian rapper NF performs at the Vogue Theatre on his Therapy Sessions Tour 2017.

The Rogue Folk Club presents American folk-rock duo Karen Savoca and Pete Heintzman at St. James Hall, with guest Shari Ulrich.

Motown Meltdown at the Commodore features music by Karen Lee Batten, Dalannah Gail Bowen, Joani Bye, Leora Cashe, Candus Churchill, Oliver Conway, Krystle Dos Santos, Olivia Steele Falconer, Angela Kelman, Linda Kidder, Jane Mortifee, Tom Pickett, Will Sanders, Kendra Sprinkling, Catherine St. Germain, Stephanie Standerwick, David Steele, Don Stewart, David Wills, and Garfield Wilson.

Victoria-based fiddler and roots musician Daniel Lapp leads his quartet in a tribute to Chet Baker with the second of two shows at Kay Meek Centre.

Coastal Jazz presents New York pianist and Hammond B3 organist Mike LeDonne with Vancouver alto saxophonist Cory Weeds at Frankie's Jazz.

Paris-based electronica musician FKJ plays the Fox Cabaret, with guests Cézaire and Dabeull.

British-born, Vienna-based electronic-music singer-songwriter and producer Sohn plays the Rickshaw, with guest William Doyle.

The three-day Vancouver World Music Festival continues, featuring artists from Mexico, Colombia, Iran, Brazil, Nicaragua, Cuba, Spain, London, Africa, and B.C. at various Vancouver venues.

 

BENEFITS

Catherine Urquhart hosts a night of Top Chef-style tasting stations, B.C. wine pairings, and blues music by Harpdog Brown at Surrey's Semiahmoo Secondary School, with proceeds to the Autism Support Network.

 

ETCETERA

The family-friendly Sakura Days Japan Fair at VanDusen Botanical Garden showcases the Japanese cultural arts, cuisine, and businesses of the local community.

The two-day Kerrisale Antiques Fair at Kerrisdale Cyclone Taylor Arena features over 250 booths and tables of antique and estate jewellery, furniture, pottery and glass, memorabilia, books, native arts, and classic dolls and toys.

Drivers go head-to-head at the Pacific Coliseum driving trucks, speedsters, and ATVs at the three-day Monster Jam Triple Threat Series.

The 35th annual Greater Vancouver Regional Science Fair continues its three-day run at UBC's AMS Student Nest.

The WISE Hall Membership Drive and Open House features a clothing swap, snacks, and entertainment by Orchard Pinkish, Paul Silveria, Miss Quincy, Screaming Chicken Theatrical Society, Jillian Christmas, Chelsea D.E Johnson, Lexi Marie, Gold Stars Are for Suckers, and REDS.

The Not-a-Party Election Party at Vancouver Mural Festival HQ features music, art installations, comedy, and lightning talks from local residents.

 

FOOD & DRINK

B.C. Distilled at the Croatian Cultural Centre offers a chance to taste the province’s spirits and discuss their qualities with their makers.

Learn how to make Rice Krispie toffee clusters and peanut-butter eggs, as well as things to decorate for your Easter basket, at Mackin Heritage Home and Toy Museum.

 

FORUMS

Full-day workshop at Brainstation Vancouver covers the foundations for developing and implementing a successful social-media strategy using today's most popular channels.

Discuss quantum computing and harnessing the power of the sun using semiconductors at a free SFU/UBC morning lecture at SFU Surrey.

 

KIDS' STUFF

Family Easter Fun at City Square Shopping Centre features an Easter egg hunt, a real bunny meet-and-greet, a photo booth, and a prize station.

Family-friendly activities at Wesbrook Village include an Easter egg scavenger hunt, a walk and run, and a meet-and-greet with a life-sized Easter bunny.

 

SPORTS

The Vancouver Canucks take on the Edmonton Oilers in National Hockey League action at Rogers Arena.

 

COMEDY 

Graham Clark hosts an evening of comedy at the Fox Cabaret that combines segments from various game shows.

The Western Canada Comedy Tour features standup by Spencer "Spenny" Rice, Erik Stolhanske, Sam Losco, Tyrone, Tom Garland, and Rude Dowg at Alexander Gastown.

American comedian, actor, TV host Michael Yo performs the second of two nights of standup at Yuk Yuk's Comedy Club.

New York City-based comedian Dan Soder performs the third of three nights of standup at the Comedy Mix.

Spectral Theatre presents two scripts by local writers performed in the style of old-time radio shows at the Revue Stage.

Ed Hill and Damian Johnson host comedy by Oli Maughan, Nancy Ho, Sam Tonning, and headliner Chris Griffin at the British Ex-Servicemens Association.

 

ARTS ETCETERA

The Capture Photography Festival, which aims to nurture emerging talent, engage community, and spark public dialogue about photography as an art form and a vessel for communication, continues at various Vancouver galleries.

 

DANCE

Flamenco Rosario presents an in-studio performance by a new generation of flamenco dancers at Centro Flamenco Studios.

DanceHouse presents the French dance company Compagnie Herve Koubi in performances of What the day owes to the night at Vancouver Playhouse.

Compagnie Danse Nyata Nyata presents Mozongi, a contemporary African dance work created by Montreal choreographer Zab Maboungou. at Scotiabank Dance Centre.

 

LITERARY

The two-day North Shore Writers Festival features a local authors' book fair, a literary trivia night, and readings by headlining authors Zoe Whittall, Deborah Campbell, and Anosh Irani at North Vancouver City Library.

 

GALLERIES

Oh, How I Long For Home Marianne Nicolson's installation at the Teck Gallery, addresses a persistent idea of the city as a conflicted promise for indigenous people.

Pacific Crossings at the Vancouver Art Gallery features works from well-known Hong Kong artists created after their relocation to Vancouver throughout the 1960-90s.

Susan Point: Spindle Whorl at the Vancouver Art Gallery surveys Point’s entire career through more than a hundred artworks that take the spindle whorl as their starting point.

Sonny Assu creates a new series of digital tags on a body of Emily Carr paintings at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Retainers of Anarchy at the Vancouver Art Gallery features new work from Howie Tsui that considers wuxia as a narrative tool for dissidence and resistance.

 

MUSEUMS

Layers of Influence: Unfolding Cloth Across Cultures at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC features more than 130 diverse cultural garments, from Japanese kimonos, to colourful Indian saris, to the elaborate feather cloaks of the Maori people of Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Amazonia: The Rights of Nature at at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC features Amazonian basketry, textiles, carvings, feather works, and ceramics both of everyday and of ceremonial use, representing indigenous, Maroon, and white settler communities.

 

MUSIC

Vancouver New Music presents Mantra Percussion in a performance of Leslie Flanigan's Hedera, Tristan Perich's Moment of Inertia, Paul Dolden's Mantra Groove, and Aaron Siegel's A Great Many at the Orpheum Annex.

Justin Freer conducts the Vancouver Symphony in a performance of John Williams's score of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets while the film plays on a big screen at the Orpheum Theatre.

Chor Leoni’s BC/BALTICA at Ryerson United Church takes inspiration from the long tradition of Baltic and Scandinavian men’s choirs, and the compositions written for them, with works by Edvard Grieg, Gunnar Idenstam, and Jaakko Mäntyjärvi.

Pandora's Vox and Espiritu vocal ensembles and guests ProArte's CatchingART Contemporary Ballet Theatre present a musical celebration of Canada in honour of Canada's 150th year at West Vancouver United Church.

UBC Symphony Orchestra, University Singers, and UBC Choral Union perform Mozart's Requiem and Chatman's A Song of Joys at the Chan Centre.

Capilano University's 120-voice choir and the Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra perform works by Mozart at BlueShore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts.

 

THEATRE

Mom's the Word Collective presents a performance of Mom's the Word 3: Nest 1/2 Empty--the story of a group of moms whose kids have grown, whose marriages have evolved, and whose bodies are backfiring--at Granville Island Stage.

Performance at Studio 58 of The Refugee Hotel, writer-director Carmen Aguirre's dark comedy about eight Chilean exiles who struggle with the effects of fleeing their homeland.

Puppeteer provocateur Ronnie Burkett and his resident company of over 40 marionettes perform The Daisy Theatre at the Cultch.

The Arts Club Theatre Company presents Tony Kushner's Angels in America, Part One: Millenium Approaches at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage.

Hardline Productions presents the world premiere at Presentation House Theatre of Redpatch, Raes Calvert and Sean Harris Oliver's historical drama about a young Métis volunteer soldier deployed to fight in World War I.

Performance at Deep Cove Shaw Theatre of Marion Bridge, Daniel MacIvor’s play about three estranged sisters who reunite in their family home on Cape Breton Island to say goodbye to their dying mother.

Performance at Studio 58 of Zoetrope: The Curiosity of Puppet Oddities, in which students use three-person, shadow, and object puppetry to tell a story of love and death.

As part of Boca del Lupo's Micro Performance Series, Pi Theatre presents the climate-change play Genetic Drift at the Fishbowl on Granville Island.

August Fourth Productions presents Dale Wasserman’s 1963 stage adaptation of the Ken Kasey novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest at PAL Theatre.

United Players present a performance at the Jericho Arts Centre of The Train Driver Athol Fugard's exploration of guilt, suffering, redemption, and the powerful bonds that grow between strangers.

The Sidekick Players present a performance at Tsawwassen Arts Centre of Twelve Angry Men, Reginald Rose's 1954 teleplay about the jury at a murder trial of a young man accused of the fatal stabbing of his father.

Vagabond Players presents the Western Canadian premiere at Bernie Legge Theatre of Vinci, a play that sees Leonardo da Vinci's father and mother battle for his affections.

 

ATTRACTIONS

The Deeley Motorcycle Exhibition features over 250 privately-owned bikes from around the world.

Soar from coast-to-coast across the Canadian landscape with a 25-minute ride featuring effects such as wind and scents at FlyOver Canada.

At the Bloedel Conservatory you can take in more than 200 free-flying exotic birds and 500 exotic plants and flowers.

Edgewater Casino offers 24-hour gaming, over 60 table games, a poker room, a high-limit section, 500 slot machines, restaurants and lounges, and live entertainment, including concerts and televised UFC events.

Cypress Mountain features skiing and snowboarding lessons, snowtubing park, cross-country ski trails, downhill skiing and snowboarding trails, and snowshoeing tours.

Take a ride in an exterior glass elevator and get a 360° view of Metro Vancouver and the North Shore mountains at Vancouver Lookout.

Grouse Mountain resort features a Skyride to the peak with views of Vancouver and the Pacific Ocean, as well as skiing and snowboarding, snowshoeing, ice skating, mountain ziplines, and the Peak of Christmas.

The Vancouver Aquarium features almost 800 animal species in galleries ranging from Canada's Arctic to the Amazon rainforest.

The 22-hectare VanDusen Botanical Garden features over 255,000 plants from around the world, a restaurant, a garden shop, and a horticulture library. 

The Capilano Suspension Bridge features seven suspended footbridges offering views 110 feet above the forest floor.

Lighthouse Park features 10 kilometres of hiking trails, picnic areas, guided walks provided by the Lighthouse Park Preservation Society, and the historical 1912 Point Atkinson Lighthouse.

Mount Seymour features skiing and snowboarding lessons from the Mt. Seymour Ski and Snowboard School, tubing and tobogganing, and snowshoe trails.

 

MOVIES

Screening at the Vancity Theatre of David Lynch's 1977 debut feature and cult hit Eraserhead.

Screening at the Rio Theatre of Kedi, Ceyda Torun's film about Istanbul and its unique people as seen through the eyes of a cat.

Screening at the Cinematheque of works from Eric Rohmer's Six Moral Tales, a cycle of films made between 1962 and 1972.

Screening at the Rio Theatre of the horror-musical The Lure, about a pair of carnivorous mermaid sisters in an alternate ’80s Poland.

Screening at the Rio Theatre of writer-directors Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski's ultra-gory horror flick The Void.

Screening at the Rio Theatre of Heel Kick!, writer-director-actor Danny Mac's film about two backyard wrestlers who decide to go pro.

Screening at the Rio Theatre of director Tommy Wiseau‘s bizarre cinematic oddity of 2003, The Room.

For all the latest Metro Vancouver event announcements and updates follow @VanHappenings.